United Nations

Activities of the Triglav Circle in the United Nations (2)

REPORT TO THE UNITED NATIONS ON THE ACTIVITIES OF THE TRIGLAV CIRCLE DURING THE PERIOD 2006-2009

TRIGLAV  CIRCLE

Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council, granted in 2001

I Introduction

The Triglav Circle was created in the context of the United Nations World Summit for Social Development convened in Copenhagen in March 1995. In preparation for this event, the Secretariat had organized in Bled, Slovenia, in October 1994, a seminar on Ethical and Spiritual Dimensions of Social Progress and a number of participants decided to pursue their reflection through a non-profit  organization. “Triglav”, or “three gods” is the name of the mountain at the basis of which the Seminar took place. 

The report of the Seminar noted that “concerned by a number of facets of the spirit of the time, participants shared a basic faith that progress was possible and would be greatly enhanced by a spirit of compassion, humility, responsibility and courage.” ( Ethical  and Spiritual Dimensions of Social Progress, United Nations Publication, sales No E.95.IV.2, New York, February 1995, page 1). The report of the Summit itself, adopted in Copenhagen by delegations comprising 117 heads of State or Government, included far-reaching commitments based on the acknowledgment that “societies must respond more effectively to the material and spiritual needs of individuals, their families and the communities in which they live” and on the conviction  that “social development and social justice are indispensable for the achievement and maintenance of peace and security within and among nations” and that “in turn, social development and social justice cannot be attained in the absence of peace and security and in the absence of respect for all human rights and fundamental freedoms” ( The Copenhagen Declaration and  Programme of Action, World Summit for Social Development. 6-12 March 1995, United Nations, New York, 1005, page 3).

The objective of the Triglav Circle is to contribute to the implementation of the promises and ideals expressed by this Summit and related United Nations undertakings, notably the Earth Summit of Rio de Janeiro in 1992. It seeks to add its voice to those that, throughout the word, strive for more humane progress, while preserving the noble and diversified heritage of humanity and the integrity of the natural environment. It is convinced that benevolence, justice and wisdom are universal ideals that can prevail over cynicism, violence and selfish conceptions of individual and national interest. It seeks to define and promote the common good of humankind through reflection, research, dialogue and democratic processes involving various traditions and cultures. It strongly believes that the United Nations family of organizations is the most legitimate and the most promising forum for addressing both the threats and opportunities that humankind faces on the eve of the 21stcentury.

The Circle carries on its work through seminars, research and collaboration with national and international institutions. Its members are from different parts of the world and different walks of life. They shared the conviction that it is necessary and possible to enrich the public discourse on global problems with cultural, philosophical and spiritual perspectives drawn from various sources. The discussions of the Circle are summarized in reports circulated to members, participants in its gatherings, and to a wider public audience. In the United Nations, the Circle participates regularly in the annual meeting of the Commission for Social Development, a functional body of the Economic and Social Council in charge of the follow-up of the World Summit for Social Development.

During the period under review -2005-2008- the only significant change in the modalities of operation of the Triglav Circle has been a greater diversification of the geographical distribution of its activities. In addition to its meetings in Cambridge, Ma, USA, the Circle has met regularly in France since the summer of 2006 and has met twice in California, at the University of Santa Barbara, in 2006 and 2008. In addition, the Circle has reinforced its collaboration with other institutions through the organization of joint seminars, notably in Cambridge, Ma, on the question of social justice with the Harvard-Yenching Institute and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, and in Beijing, on Harmonious Societies and Multiple Modernities, with the Harvard Yenching Institute and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Also, officers of the Circle participated in a Forum for Social Development in Bamako, Mali, organized by the Government of Mali and the Solidarity Fund. 

II Contribution of the organization to the work of the United Nations

  1. Participation in the work of the Commission for Social Development

February 2005, New York, 43d  session. The priority theme of this session was the Follow-up to the World Summit (Copenhagen +10).The Circle made a statement and organized a workshop. The organization’s representative stressed the moral and spiritual dimensions of the text adapted in Copenhagen and confirmed five years later in Geneva. The public discourse needs to call for the respect and application of high moral standards, by everyone and particularly by those in a position of power. High moral standards are universally understood and refer to human decency, to dignity and to the nobility and generosity of the human spirit. To assume that humankind has a “reservoir” of moral principles that does not need to be constantly replenished and nurtured is an error that materialist, utilitarian and pragmatist currents have not been able to avoid. The commitments made at Copenhagen have rapidly been side-tracked. There is an urgent need for “reclaiming” the spirit and objectives of this Summit. Reclaiming Copenhagen is to combat both fanaticism and cynicism  and to work patiently and diligently for more humility, more attention to the other, and more wisdom in our private and public undertakings. The representative of the Circle concluded with a call for a coalition of NGOs to press for the present relevance of the moral and political legacy of Copenhagen.

At the workshop organized by the Circle, there was an exchange of view on the extent to which the Millennium Development Goals could be considered as expressing the essence of the commitments made in Copenhagen. A number of targets which are part of the MDGs were indeed taken from the Copenhagen Programme of Action. But the Summit expressly warned against the artificial character of a world target for the reduction of poverty. It recommended national objectives. It saw poverty as a multidimensional problem, affecting both “rich” and “poor” countries and stemming in part from the bad functioning of the world economy. It attached precise national and international policies, including taxation policies and the curbing of financial  speculation, to the reduction of poverty. Moreover, the MDGs ignore the commitments of the Summit pertaining to social integration and to employment.

February 2006, New York, 44thsession. On the priority theme of Eradication of poverty, the Circle again made a statement and organized a workshop. The Circle sees poverty as a universal problem with many facets. Poverty exists in rich countries and has increased in the last decades. Poverty is material, but also social, cultural, and spiritual. Poverty of the human spirit is an acute problem. Secondly, it would be highly desirable to built bridges between the discourse on development and the reduction of poverty and the discourse on the protection and promotion of human rights. The historical circumstances that explain this damaging divorce no longer prevail. Thirdly, not only poverty but wealth has to be a preoccupation of the United Nations. Wealth has to be seen as a source of duties, responsibilities and obligations vis-à-vis the Other and the collectivity. Otherwise it directly creates poverty. Overall, the struggle for the reduction of poverty ought to be replaced in a struggle for justice, solidarity, the adoption of simpler life-styles and the renaissance of the human spirit.

The workshop organized by the Circle was devoted to an exchange of views on the non-material dimensions of poverty and on the possibility to subject those to public policies. Spiritual poverty is associated with selfishness and cynicism. Public policies should at least recognize that poverty is not only material.

February 2007, New York, 45thsession. The Circle made a statement on the priority theme Promoting full employment and decent work for all. Work is not only a means of human survival but an expression of intrinsic human dignity. Work is self realization and is a bridge between the individual and society. Work has a transcendental, or metaphysical, or cosmological dimension as the working  person participates in the continuing creation of the world. Thus, work is much more than the holding or completion of a “job”. It is a right, it is central to the individual and society, and yet it should not be everything, neither for the individual, nor for the community. But, concluded the representative of the Circle,  work ought to remain a major issue of public policy, for only a small minority of the world population is in a position to treat work as a means for personal and social development.

(The Circle did not participate in the 45thsession of the Commission)

  1. Activities in support of global principles

The subjects of the meetings and seminars organized by the Triglav Circle are directly or indirectly related to the activities of the United Nations pertaining to the promotion of “social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom” (Preamble of the Charter). Within the limits of this report it is only possible to list these subjects which were debated during the period under review. In chronological order: 

  • Moral Dimensions of the Public Discourse: the Legacy of the Social Summit revisited; 
  • Human Flourishing and Social Justice; 
  • Social Justice;
  •  The Global Civil Society;
  •  Simpler life-styles: Utopia or reasonable political project?;
  •  Seeking harmonious societies and multiple modernities;
  •  Work and employment: their meaning and characteristics in a changing world; 
  • Secularism, ethics and politics;
  •  Philosophical, ethical and cultural dimensions of health and the environment;
  •  The cosmopolitan ideal: content and actors; 
  •  The idea of progress and its relevance for the 21stcentury. 

The reports on most of these debates and seminars are available on the site of the Circle: www.triglavcircleonline.org

Back To Top